Internet Explorer 9 RC Now Live

Kemical, thanks for the tip. I always imagine that when submitting such reports during the first iteration of a public beta, that mine will just be another among the storm of hey your browser beta install hosed my machine, I can only imagine some of the submissions they might be receiving already, so I generally hold off if the submission would be as trivial as "a simple refresh of the page when clicking the back button", allow the cacophony to soften and thin out and see if the problems persists through the next iteration. I haven't noticed anything that would be serious enough for me to jump in with bug reports this early, as a matter of fact with the exception of this one minor issue and a possible personal complaint regarding the placement of the address bar in respect to the tabs, I really like what's going on.

Staff MemberPremium SupporterMicrosoft MVP

Microsoft has released a new Internet Explorer 9 Preview 6, which is designed primarily for developer feedback purposes. This preview introduces two major new HTML5 features along with bug fixes and performance enhancements.

Bascially, by using some of the files from the PP6, and moving them to your beta directory, it allows IE 9 beta to utilize the additional features introduced in the new PP.. I'm trying this now and will follow up soon.

IE9 is a piece of crap, FF and Chrome (although I'm not a Google fan) are going to be the leaders. IE had their days, now it's someone else's turn. The only reason that IE is even the #1 browser is due to it being pre-installed with every Windows OS. If the consumer groups in the US would ban together like the Europeans did, IE would be a dead duck, plain & simple. The same with Windows Media Player.

Just as the Windows Backup tool, defrag, disc cleaner, WMP, etc, is being replaced by third party apps, IE is too, at a rate faster than M$ is admitting to. Stop the force feeding and we'll see just who the #1 browser is.

I think IE 9 is a huge step in the right direction for Microsoft. I have switched from Chrome 10 dev to IE 9 beta, simply because it's what works best for me (though I do admittingly miss a few of Chrome's basic yet convenient features).

But I do want to bring up an issue regarding IE 9 and Facebook. Being both a heavy Facebook and IE 9 user, I'm struck by the lack of compatbility. Sure it's in beta, so I can understand Facebook thinks "we can finish this later", but they're going to end up in the deep end of the **** pile soon. IE 9 is only months away from release, and so far Facebook has not fixed any of the major issues regarding IE 9. My point? When IE 9 launches, even if they have been working to fix the site, they're still going to have a huge problem because there's simply so many issues that it would probably be more efficient and faster to rebuild the entire facebook source code specifically for IE 9.

As for other sites, I've noticed a few compatbility problems but generally pleased. There shouldn't be too many issues anyway since the only major changes in IE 9 are implementations of new standards, everything else is generally similar to IE 8.

Tests show the RC build has further improved on HTML5 and other web standards featured in the browser, in fact it is now claimed in tests to be on the heels of the latest stable release of Google Chrome. This chart shows detailed comparisons of the different standards across several browsers, IE 9 powering out on top:

(Click image for full size)

Not all the changes are under the hood, the top segment of the browser has been tweaked yet again.

(Click screenshot for full size)

This adds to the revamped "simplicit" look the Microsoft has aimed for in Internet Explorer 9.

The largest notable feature in the Release Candidate is the addition of Tracking Protection which is essentially a function that can block sites from collecting detailed information about the way you use the web, as well as a new easy way to enable/disable all ActiveX controls by default. More interestingly it allows users to take full advantage of Adblocking services such as Ad-Block, TRUSTe, PrivacyChoice and others. This is notable when considering this has been available in other browsers via addons for sometime but is now available by default in IE.

The build string is 9.0.8080.16413:

With the RC now being out the door, we should expect very few changes between this build and the RTM build.

Thanks Mitchell, decided I would give it another go. The Beta and I have had an on again off again relationship, so I guess I'll see how the RC acts. Interesting install (shuts down explorer even). Seems pretty good for now. Even the forum toolbar stayed this time without any problems.

Staff MemberPremium SupporterMicrosoft MVP

Microsoft has Released the Release Candidate (RC) of Internet Explorer 9. More details of all the features in IE9 can be found on the IE Team Blog as well as this Product Guide. Note that IE9 will not run under Windows XP, only Vista or 7. The release date for the final version of IE9 is unclear, but Microsoft says it will be available "shortly".

Staff MemberPremium Supporter

Thanks, Mitchell, for the quick catch and great thread. I updated Ross' original post to eliminate IE beta information since it has reached the public RC milestone, and have merged your announcement into Software Updates, where it rightfully belongs. Unfortunately I could not make your post the original one, as it gives some quite detailed information. However, the title is a bit more updated and explanatory, as well as this post. This is turning out to be a good year for new software. Nice catch and thanks.

Staff MemberPremium Supporter

The release date for the final version of IE9 is unclear, but Microsoft says it will be available "shortly".

Click to expand...

It should be noted that the primary reason no date has been given for the final version of Internet Explorer 9 is that, as a public release candidate, it will be tested for any showstopper bugs by the mass-public. Although feature complete, and stable, the software is now a candidate for release. If no bugs whatsoever are found, release candidates can very well become final iterations of software. This does not happen often, however, and an evaluation of the release candidate by the public at large will help Microsoft find any last minute bugs before development goes dormant and/or private again. RC can signify that Microsoft could find no bugs internally. If the release candidate is not for testing, and is just a technical preview before a final release, that should be disclosed openly.

Compared to other browser development, like Firefox or Chrome, this is a different development model that has been adopted. A large portion of Chrome has been published as open source, and Firefox, itself, is completely open source. Anyone can download the latest nightly build of either browser and submit code changes as contributions. In 2008, Google was releasing up to ten releases a day of dev builds - and source code. This allows for real-time feedback and entire areas of free development/code contributions over the Internet. You will not see these browsers enter release candidate much, since they are already being actively tested by an open community - and feature updated - on a regular basis.

For some people, what release candidate vs. beta is and how these browsers are developed invokes some level of mysticism. In this case, it is a bit weird, since IE has always used its unique development model. That model, arguably, made Netscape leave the building back in the 90s. However, the resurgence of new browsers, in my opinion, has come from a demand for timely, regular updates and better support for W3C web standards. A few years ago, in an interview, Bill Gates distinguished IE7 to be different than IE8 in that it promised to have frequent updates. Unfortunately, someone changed that to security updates, but IE8 still proved to be a better browser than its IE7 contemporary. By this time, however, a large number of Internet users began adopting Firefox and Chrome in droves.

I will not say that one browser is better than another, because I use them all. And I do like IE9. I simply hope more feature updates will be released as opposed to security patches due to constant vulnerabilities. If this becomes possible, I personally believe IE will become a major success once again.

IE 9 RC has been reported by Stardock to cause crashes when used with some of there programs, this was about a week ago they were working on the situation with M$ to resolve the problem/s. I do not know if they have been resolved as of this time

WinRumors posted a news story that Microsoft is planning to announce the release of Internet Explorer 9 on March 14

Microsoft’s Internet Explorer 9 team is planning to host a party during the South by southwest (SXSW) music and film festival in Austin, Texas. The party will be held on March 14 and will include free drinks and music performances from Yeasayer, The Head and The Heart, and Fences. Microsoft has sent several invites for a “special press pre-event” to press and analysts over the past few weeks. Microsoft’s Australian PR company, Howorth, recently sent invites claiming Microsoft is planning a “major announcement.”

Sources familiar with the company’s plans have confirmed to WinRumors that Microsoft intends to launch the final version of Internet Explorer 9 at SXSW on March 14. A number of Internet Explorer 9 team members will participate in the launch and celebration party afterwards.

The confirmation of March 14 follows news that Microsoft is currently compiling near final escrow-RTM builds of Internet Explorer 9.

The escrow builds mark the final stage of Internet Explorer 9′s development.

Microsoft’s latest Internet Explorer 9 escrow build is 9.0.8112.16416. Microsoft historically RTM’s products less than a month after they hit the RTM-escrow stage.